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Biggest combat/encounter you've run?
- Thread starter NewJeffCT
- Start date
Aholibamah
First Post
Since my game till just recently was a war campaign we had several big battles. One part of it was the Red Hand of Doom Drellin's Ferry retreat (or taken from that) but in which I actually ran the enemy units while the pcs commanded two companies of militia in a fighting retreat.
We also had a mass combat against Frost Giant mercenaries and their minions (winter wolves and wyvern riding hobgoblin shamans) with the pcs leading their followers and cohorts.
The big climax was against a lich and his horde of undead, nearly 30 ghouls and ghasts, a Shadow Dragon and the lich himself. The party nearly got wiped out but won in the end.
I suggest for units of humanoids/undead or whatever that you have them fight as units and give them feats that are appropriate--swarm is good for chaotic or mindless creatures for instance. Formation fighting also works. The tricky npcs/monsters to work with are those that have a variety of special powers, feats or spells--you really need to plan that in advance with a couple of contingency plans for general circumstances. It is a lot of work but also really fun.
We also had a mass combat against Frost Giant mercenaries and their minions (winter wolves and wyvern riding hobgoblin shamans) with the pcs leading their followers and cohorts.
The big climax was against a lich and his horde of undead, nearly 30 ghouls and ghasts, a Shadow Dragon and the lich himself. The party nearly got wiped out but won in the end.
I suggest for units of humanoids/undead or whatever that you have them fight as units and give them feats that are appropriate--swarm is good for chaotic or mindless creatures for instance. Formation fighting also works. The tricky npcs/monsters to work with are those that have a variety of special powers, feats or spells--you really need to plan that in advance with a couple of contingency plans for general circumstances. It is a lot of work but also really fun.
Shemeska
Adventurer
The largest scale battle I've had took place in a 3d environment on the border of the positive energy plane and the quasielemental plane of lightning, so random lightning strikes for all involved each round.
8 PCs
2 solars
30 assorted daevas and asuras
5 gold dragons
versus
25 nycaloths
5 nycaloths w/ levels
15 arcanoloths (+ 5 sorc levels)
4 half-fiend pyroclastic dragons
5 ultroloths
and 1 ultroloth w/ psion levels doing his best darth vader impression with a cloud of sharp metallic debris
And I think a pair of sibling arcanaloths (who seriously PO'd the PCs on a routine basis late in the campaign) briefly showed up.
Took hours to run. My god so many dice, even with my fudging lots of by-the-rules mechanics.
8 PCs
2 solars
30 assorted daevas and asuras
5 gold dragons
versus
25 nycaloths
5 nycaloths w/ levels
15 arcanoloths (+ 5 sorc levels)
4 half-fiend pyroclastic dragons
5 ultroloths
and 1 ultroloth w/ psion levels doing his best darth vader impression with a cloud of sharp metallic debris
And I think a pair of sibling arcanaloths (who seriously PO'd the PCs on a routine basis late in the campaign) briefly showed up.
Took hours to run. My god so many dice, even with my fudging lots of by-the-rules mechanics.
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